A 36-year-old teacher at John's Hall All-Age School in St James, charged with the murder of her husband, had her $500,000 bail extended when she appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

The matter was adjourned until June 16, pending the court's receipt of the outstanding post mortem report needed to complete the case file.

Maxine Tugwell-Brown, who was acting vice-principal at the time of the incident, was charged in March after she was accused of fatally stabbing her 46-year-old husband, Junior Brown, with whom she claimed to have had an abusive relationship.

Her defence, as presented by attorney Morrel Beckford when the matter first came before the court, was that her husband had attacked her and she acted in self-defence. He also argued that the incident should not be separated from the abusive incidents that led to the unfortunate death of Brown.

Tugwell-Brown had been with her husband for 16 years and had three children, one of whom died. She has taught at her present school for eight years and had been acting as vice-principal since January 2008.

violent dispute

Allegations as stated by Tugwell-Brown, the only witness to the incident, are that she had a violent dispute with her husband on the night of February 22. She alleges that he held on to her and threatened her. She said that she managed to pull away from him and run out of the house, and grabbed a knife as she exited.

He allegedly pursued her and told her to come inside. However, on seeing that she was armed, he stepped backwards. Tugwell-Brown said that she then ran towards him and stabbed him once in the region of the left shoulder. Neighbours took Brown to the hospital where he died.